


Of Understanding Poison

by yaruna



Series: Of Years Gone By [12]
Category: The Lord of the Rings - All Media Types
Genre: Angst, Gen, Legolas POV, POV First Person
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-10-04
Updated: 2015-10-04
Packaged: 2018-04-24 18:26:46
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 541
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4930435
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/yaruna/pseuds/yaruna
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Legolas POV</p><p>Wherein Legolas visits his dying tree</p><p>All parts of the series are stand-alone one-shots, though some may have references to previous happenings</p>
            </blockquote>





	Of Understanding Poison

I have always been fascinated with trees. I probably always will be. They sing to me, and I never feel as much relief as I do with them. Just being in the forest can provide as much rest as a good night's sleep. This is true for most forests, with few exceptions.

The trees of Mirkwood however are dying. The poison that is Dol Guldur is slowly overtaking them, stealing their lives, and their once vibrant songs are fading. It had gone on for so many years now. When I was young, I had tried to waken a poisoned tree, but my father had stopped me before I did it, saying I needed to be stronger before I tried such a feat.

I was stronger now, I knew, and I steeled myself as I put my hands against my tree.

I spoke with her, and sang to her, gently coaxing her from her deep sleep. I could feel her being drawn up, back to me, and I slowly started to smile, daring to hope.

Then came the worst scream I had ever heard, and I recoiled as it pierced through my head. It only gave a moment of reprieve, when I moved my hands away from the trunk. The guilt immediately gnawed at my feet, and I leaned closer to my tree, listening to her screams. It mattered not how much, nor how frantically, I tried to calm her, she still would not stop screaming. I leaned my head against her, but she whipped me away with her branches.

' _Leave, little one. Let not this poisoned old tree mar you.'_  She said, still screeching beneath it all. I took a firm hold of her trunk, and whispered small nothings to her, telling her how much I missed her, and loved her, until I felt her fall into sleep again.

She was truly gone, I realized as I unsteadily stepped back. I wiped a strange wetness from my cheeks, and I felt myself shaking in shock. She  _had_  been gone, ever since Estel had cut her branches all those years ago, letting the darkness seep into her.

I tried to be angry, but all I felt was a strange kind of emptiness. I had felt her, she had wanted to stay, but she could not fight against the pull of darkness. She  _hurt_. It was not her fault, nor was it Estel's. She would have fallen eventually, with or without his misguided attempt to help me.

I climbed into her branches, feeling a bit like I was violating her when I could not ask her permission. She had always loved to have me among her branches, and I did not think that she would begrudge me one last time. Once I was seated it took a while to find a comfortable position. She had always adjusted her branches to give me a nice spot to sit on, but now she was gone, and it was cold. It was empty. Another one I cared for was gone.

But I understood now.

It was not their fault. She had to leave. So did he. And neither of them could bring me on their journey.

Why did understanding it not make me feel any better?


End file.
